Women's Fastbreak On SI

WNBA Expansion Franchise Tease Gets Roasted By Fans

WNBA fans are having a field day with the league's most recent expansion tease.

Grant Young

May 15, 2024; Arlington, Texas, USA; Chicago Sky forward Angel Reese (5) laughs with Dallas Wings forward Natasha Howard (6) during the second half at College Park Center. Mandatory Credit: Kevin Jairaj-Imagn Images
May 15, 2024; Arlington, Texas, USA; Chicago Sky forward Angel Reese (5) laughs with Dallas Wings forward Natasha Howard (6) during the second half at College Park Center. Mandatory Credit: Kevin Jairaj-Imagn Images / Kevin Jairaj-Imagn Images

After having already announced two expansion franchises (the Golden State Valkyries and a currently unnamed team in Toronto) in the past year, the WNBA appears primed to announce yet another expansion team in the coming days.

On Tuesday morning, the WNBA's X account wrote, "You know what's better than 14 teams? 😏".

This tease seems to coincide with an August 30 X post from Rose Garden Report's Sean Highkin that wrote, "After a false start last fall, sources say Portland is on the verge of being awarded a WNBA expansion team that will start in 2026 with the Bhathal family (owners of the Thorns) leading the ownership group."

Highkin then replied to that post on Tuesday, adding, "Small update on this: I’ve been told the announcement has been moved from the 10th to the 18th."

Both this report and the WNBA's post indicate that an official announcement about the WNBA's soon-to-be 15th team may be coming as soon as Wednesday.

While that's causing some excitement within the women's basketball community, many fans are more interested in roasting the WNBA for its suspect scheduling this past weekend.

X user @nasgioia replied to the WNBA's aforementioned expansion tease and wrote, "not scheduling 5 games at the same time ❤️🫶".

This is a reference to five of the WNBA's six Sunday, September 15th games having the exact same start time.

X user @SiobhanBeslow expanded on this sentiment by commenting, "a schedule that enables us as viewers to watch more than 1 game without the NEED for a multiview option?"

Another common gripe of the WNBA's recent scheduling is them loading Sundays with games, which creates competition with the NFL.

X user @tellahaterfucku alluded to this by writing, "all 14 teams not playing at the same time on the same day and interfering with nfl on sunday's !????"

While there's surely a lot of excitement about the WNBA's suspected expansion to 15 teams, many fans appear to be more focused on the league's current scheduling flaws.

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Grant Young
GRANT YOUNG

Grant Young covers Women’s Basketball, the New York Yankees, and the New York Mets for Sports Illustrated’s ‘On SI’ sites. He holds an MFA degree in creative writing from the University of San Francisco (USF), where he also graduated with a Bachelor’s Degree in Marketing and played on USF’s Division I baseball team for five years. However, he now prefers Angel Reese to Angels in the Outfield.

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